New Mercedes B Class: Heralding A New Era

The second generation of the B-Class car heralds a new compact class era at Mercedes-Benz in terms of both design and technology and was launched at the Ngee Ann City over the weekend. Substantially more agile and efficient, but as comfortable and spacious as ever – the new B-Class from Mercedes-Benz is a winner on all fronts.

The entire drive programme is completely new: four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines with direct injection and turbocharging, dual clutch transmission and manual transmission. Several new assistance systems support the driver.

"No model change in the history of Mercedes-Benz has ever seen so many new developments introduced in one fell swoop," stresses Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management, responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. "Future B-Class customers will benefit from this quantum leap in terms of exemplary low fuel consumption and CO2 emissions combined with driving pleasure, plenty of space and the highest standard of safety that has ever been available in this class."

The fuel consumption of the new B-Class undercuts its predecessor by up to 21 percent. All the engines have been developed in-house. Both diesel models (B 180 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and B 200 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY) now run on 4.4 litres per 100 km (114 and 115 g CO2/km respectively ) – their predecessors required 5.2 litres per 100 km. The B 180 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY attains a CO2 value of 115 g/km with automatic transmission – an improvement of 21 percent on its predecessor (146 g/km). The petrol-engine variants have also made great strides: despite a substantial improvement in performance, the B 180 BlueEFFICIENCY and B 200 BlueEFFICIENCY now run on 5.9 litres per 100 km (137 and 138 g CO2/km respectively), undercutting their predecessors by up to twelve percent.

[B] Editor: The B-Class is currently available in its B200 guise in either Chrome or Sports trim. The B200 will be powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine that puts out 156bhp with 250Nm of torque kicking in from just 1,250rpm.

Prices start from $168,888 for the Chrome package and $175,888 for the sportier Sports package which sees the car come equipped with a sunroof, larger 17-inch rims and Mercedes-Benz's new Direct Steering and Direct Control Suspension systems.[/B]

Credits: wilswong